Holder and deliverer for drinking-straws.



R. M. REID.

HOLDER AND DELIVERED POR DRINKING STRAWS.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 15. 191s.

1,102,297. Patented July '7, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

YHE NOR/S PETERS CO., PHOTO-LIYHO., WASNINGVUN D C.

R. M. REID. HOLDER AND DBLIVERER FOR DRINKING STRAWS.

APPLIUATION FILED MAY 15, 1013.r 1,102,297, Patented July 7, 1914.

2 BHEETSSHEET 2.

I Z/ f WITNESSES j INVENTOI? TUHNEYS THE NORRS PETERS C0., FHOT0-LITHO VIASHINGYUPL D. CA

ROBERT M. REID, OF COLORADO SPRINGS,

COLORADO.

HOLDER. .AND DELIVERER FOR DRINKING-STRAWS.

Specification of Letters Paten-t.

Patented July 7, 1914.

Application filed May 15, 1913. Serial No. 767,802.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ROBERT M. Rem, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Colorado Springs, in the county of El Paso and State of Colorado, have invented a new and Improved Holder and Deliverer for Drinking- Straws, of which the 'following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in holders and deliverers for drinking straws and the like, and more particularly to positive discharging or distributingmeans for the straws, whereby they are discharged singly, the device being designed to be easily manipulated by an attendant or person desiring to obtain one of the straws.

More specifically, the invention resides in the provision of a holder and deliverer for soda straws in which there is provided a container so constructed as to render visible the straws contained therein and provided with a cover having locking means :for simultaneously forming a pair o1 grasping members by which the container may be oscillated on a support in either direction to discharge a straw.

The principal object of the invention is to provide in conjunction with the container, a discharge neck which is divided by a plate supported in movable or stationary relation to the container, and havingco operating feeding devices or fins designed to agitate the straws and assist in their discharge through a pair of restricted throats formed by the plate or division wall, such means preventing the straws from choking at the delivery point, while the support is further provided with means for normally preventing the discharge of the straws but serving to receive and temporarily support one of the same when the container is oscil- .lated to the limit of its movement in either' direction.

lVith the above and other objects in view the invention resides more particularly in the peculiar combination and arrangement of parts which will be illustrated as a preierred embodiment in the accompanying drawings and described in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specication, in which similar characters ot reterence indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in which- Figure l is a front elevation of my improved holder and deliverer for soda straws; Fig. 2 is an end elevation with the container in a vertical position due to its gravity action; Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, the container being oscillated in one direction for discharging a straw; Fig. 4t is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal sectional view of the form of the device shown in the foregoing figures; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. l but showing a modified construction of agitating means; Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view of a further modified form of agitating means; Fig. 7 is a fragmentary elevation of the form of agitating means shown in Fig. (3; Fig. S is a vertical sectional view of a still further modified form of agitating means; Fig. 9 is a fragmentary front elevation of the form oilI agitating means shown in Fig. 8; Fig. 1 0 is a Yfragmentary front elevation of a plate designed to be stamped out in forming an agitating means for distributing the straws; Fig. 11 is a horizontal sectional view of the construction shown in Fig. 10, the fins for discharging the straws being bent in form; and Fig. 12 is a detail view, partly in section, showing the manner of joining a pair of flat rods designed Ltor pivotally supporting the container and securing the heads thereof to the body.

As illustrated, the improved holder and deliverer for straws and the like includes a container which embraces a body 10 prefer ably formed of a series of slabs or sections 11 of glass or other transparent material, forming a substantially Octagon-shaped body having a pair ot' spaced depending portions 12 forming a restricted discharging neck portion 13 leading from a pair of sloping sides 14. These glass sections extend throughout the length of the body of the container' and are held between end sections or heads which may be formed ot metallic sections 15 conforming to the cross section of the body and provided with grooves which may be formed by supplemental head sections or linings 16 also of vitreous material or of fiber. The head sections 16 are made smaller than the sections 15 so as to receive the extremities of the glass sections or panels within the grooves provided, whereby said glass sections may be held in position by rebent edge portions l? of the heads l5, after the sections l5 and 16 are secured together by screws or other fastening means 18.

The container is supported upon a base 19 through the instrumentality of uprights 20 provided at the extremities of said base, and in the present instance illustrated as separate sections secured to the base by fastening means 2l, such fastening means simultaneously forming attaching means for cushion pieces 22 at the four corners of the base. rhe uprights are of substantially triangular form in elevation and near their apexes are provided with segmental slots 23 with their apexes downward, said slots at their outer portions having oppositely extending auxiliary slots 24 communicating therewith for a purpose to be hereinafter made apparent. The heads are retained in position on the body, or the sections of the body are retained in clamping engagement between the heads, by means of a longitudinal clamp includinga pair of flat rods 25 which extend through vertical slots in the heads of the container and which, between the uprights and the heads, carry shoulders 26 provided with depending extensions 27 to hold the rods against longitudinal displacement or end thrust. These rods are passed through the slots 23 in the uprights by disposing` them at right angles tol their normal,

position shown in the drawings or horizontally so that the shoulders and their extensions will pass through the slot extensions 24, and when turned the end portions of the rods will rest at the apexes of the slots and form a two-point suspension whereby the container may be oscillated, the walls of the segmental slots serving to limit the oscilla.- tion of the container in either direction as when discharging a straw.

In order to draw the rods 25 together and hold the heads in clamping engagement with the extremities of the panels or longitudinal sections of the body, such rods may be stamped from a single strip of metal or so cut' as to provide a pair of central beveled edges 28 having adjacent longitudinal edges 29 and transverse. edge portions 30 extending` in opposite directions and communi.- eating with the opposed longitudinal edges of the rods. rlhe rods adjacent to the beveled edges 28 are provided each with an opening 3l for receiving a. clamp to draw the rods together, after which an open ring 32 previously held on one of the rods is moved longitudinally to overlie the overlapped portions of the rods, and by reason of the oppositely acting walls 28 and 30, prevent separation of the rods laterally or longitudinally. The extremities of the rods are provided with grasping portions 33 by which the container may be oscillated in its bearings. r1he top portion of the container is left open whereby the straws may be introduced into the container, and such openings may be closed by a cover 34 having flanged sides 35 and ends 36 extended in angular directions relative thereto to overlie the adjacent portions of the container. The cover is held in position by means of a retaining strip or band 37 which is secured to the cover 34 and which is provided with opposite gripping extensions 38 conforming to the contour of the body and terminating in rebent catches 39 gripping beneath the sloping panels or walls 14 of the body, such portions 39 serving as auxiliary and desirable means for oscillating the container at the center of the latter in lieu of the grasping portions 33. By this means it will be seen that the container may be tipped in either direction, and this will be permitted without releasing the catches 39 owing to the fact that such strip is made quite rigid and of arcuate cross section as shown.

In order to provide means for regulating the discharge of the straws and temporarily holdingthe latter until withdrawn by a person desiring to use the same, or the attendant at the fountain or the like, transverse guard strips 40 are mounted on the base, spaced from the extremities of the latter, such guard strips having their upper edges curved concentrically to the pivot of the container and having upwardly opening notches 41 nea-r 'each end. The container hangs normally pendant so that the neck thereof is located centrally of the guard strips, and owing to the fact that the lower edge of such neck is located in close proxiinity to the upper edges of the guard strips, displacement of the straws 42 from within the container is obviated. 1n order that the straws may be discharged without becoming clogged and may be fed through separate leads in the neck of the container, the uprights 20 are each provided with a horizontal slot 43 and the heads of the container are provided with vertical slots 44 adjacent thereto, the upper ends of the slots 44 being located in alinement with the horizontal slots 43. A removable pivot rod 45 is loosely extended through the cooperating slots for movement horizontally'in the slots 43, and vertically in the slots 44, and such pivot rod forms a support for a dividing plate 46 which is shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings as turned around the pivot rod at its upper edge.

The plate 46 is provided at spaced points with vertical slots 47 located in its upper part and communicating with its upper edge, the said slots receiving plate-like agitating devices 48 therein, such agitating devices being mounted on the pivot rod and having oppositely extending fins 49 located at opposite sides of the plate and forming, with the adjacent walls of the container, re-

stricted throats through which the straws may pass in single file. The top portions of the agitating members arecurved and the edges thereof are bulged outwardly, as shown at 50, and then reduced there-beneath, while the lower portions are tapered and provided with teeth 51 serving as a positive means for feeding the straws downwardly through the neck of the container. This latter operation is accomplished by oscillating the container, whereby the plate will be shifted owing to the travel of the pivot rod 45 in the horizontal slots 43 which are eccentrically located relative to the pivot of the container, that is, the central portions of the slots 43 are located nearer to the pivot point of the container than the extremities thereof, so that as the container is oscillated in either direction the plate will be caused to project from the neck of the container with the fins simultaneously shifting downwardly with respect to the container and oscillating within the area of the neck as the container assumes a vertical or pendant position by gravity. The lower edge of the plate is provided with a pair of notches 52 so as to permit its downward movement and thus prevent displacement of the straws when the container is in its normal position, or of more than a single straw when the container has been oscillated to its discharge position at either side of the vertical. Bythis means the straws will be fed in separate rows at either side of the division plate, and by reason of the agitation of the fins and plate with respect to the container, the straws will be prevented from overlying one another and will be positively fed into the notches 41 when the container is oscillated.

As a modified form of agitating means, a stationary plate 53 may be employed, the same having spaced tongues or extensions 54 at its ends which are anchored through the heads of the container by extending the same therethrough and bending the tongues in opposite directions against the outer faces of the heads. In this form of the invention the upper` edge of the plate is provided with small notches 55 and the agitating members 48, which are of the same form as that illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, are held on the pivot rod 45 and in spaced relation by sleeves or bushings 56. By locating the agitating members near the extremities of the plates and at intermediate points, positive feeding of the straws is accomplished because the straws are contacted at their central and end portions, while the upper ends of the agitating members, together with the pivot rod, will serve to break any arch which the straws may tend to form between the sloping walls 14 of the container and the portions 50 and 51 will further tend to agitate the straws by raising and lowering the same at eitherside of the division wall upon the container being oscillated in opposite directions.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings, the plate 53 is the same with the exception that the notches in its top and bottom edges are omitted, but in lieu of the agitating members 48, the pivot rod 45 has an agitating member 57 mounted thereon. This agitating member comprises a single sheet of metal or the like., rebent intermediate its ends to encircle the pivot rod as shown at 58, whereby it is anchored thereto, and the side portions are corrugated to conform to the contour of the agitating members 4S or approximately so, as shown at 59, so that said member 57 will be shifted with the rod when the container is oscillated and will 'freely slide at opposite sides of the division plate.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 8 and 0 of the drawings, the plate 60 is supported in the horizontal slots 43 through the instrumentality of trunnions Gl secured to its ends below its upper edge, and the agitating members G2 are in the form of rebent angular sections soldered or otherwise secured to the opposite faces of the plate. In order to permit these angular members to be rebent, the central portions are made flat, as shown at G3.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11. of the drawings, the division plate is indicated by the numeral 64 and may have its upper end rolled or turned, as shown at G5, for attachment to the pivot rod 45, but in this instance the agitating device is produced by stamping the fins 66 from the plate itself-and bending the fins in opposite directions, as shown in Fig. 1l of the drawings.

It is of course understood that each of the modified forms of the invention have the fins located at such points as will be found most desirable and efficient for discharging the straws. The base may be reinforced by a transparent or glass plate (37 beneath which an advertising card or the like (i8 may be disposed, both being held beneath rebent lugs 69 stamped from the guard members and disposed horizontally inward. The guard sections 40 may be detachably secured to the base, as shown at 70, and are mounted so as to properly space the lugs G9 from the base for accommodation of the plate 67 and the advertising card or the like (i8. The use of the auxiliaryhcads especially adapts the device for use in dispensingor delivering articles which would cause corrosion of the metal, for it is apparent that the device could be used with equal facility for dispensing pencils, cigars and other like articles. The horizontal slots 43 as described y simply receive the extremities of the pivot rod 4:5 or the trunnions 6l without supportA ing the container, and in addition to the walls of the slots 23 limiting the oscillation of the container, the ends of the slots 43 will also serve this purpose.

The device is further advantageous owing to the fact that the straws are normally retained in a covered receptacle and not exposed as is the custom with devices heretofore made, and thus the straws are maintained in a clean and sanitary condition.

Having thus described my invent-ion,^what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a straw holder and deliverer, the combination with a container supported for oscillation and having a discharge opening; of means mounted in the opening for positively discharging the st-raws from the container directly upon the oscillation of the latter.

2. In a holder and deliverer for soda straws and the like, the combination with a supporting device; of a container pivotally mounted thereon and having a reduced neck portion provided with an opening, and means slidably arranged wit-hin said neck portion and positively shifted upon pivoting of the container to discharge a straw from the latter.

3. ln a holder and deliverer for soda straws and the like, the combination with a supporting device; of a` 4container pivotally mounted thereon and having a reduced neck portion provided with an opening, shifting means carried by the container and positively actuated from the supporting devices upon the container being pivoted, means arranged within said neck portion and con nected to the shifting means to be positively shifted upon pivoting of the container to discharge a straw from the latter, and means normally preventing the escape of the straws.

t. ln a straw holder and deliverer, the combination with a container supported for oscillation and having a discharge opening; of means for positively discharging the straws from the container upon the oscillation of the latter, guards having arcuate edge portions located closely adjacent to the discharge end of the container and provided with notches near their extremities for receiving a straw, and means for oscillating the container to either side of its normally vertical position.

5. lin a holder and deliverer for soda straws and the like, the combination with a supporting device; of a container pivotally mounted thereon and having a reduced neck portion. provided with an opening, means arranged within said neck portion and shifted upon pivoting of the container to discharge a straw from the latter, said means being adapted to agitate the straws within the container at the neck portion of the latter and forming a pair of throats through which the straws are fed in single file for distribution when the container is disposed at opposite limits of its movement.

6. A holder and distributer for articles of the nature described, embodying a base having uprights, a container, a rod fixed to the container and forming a two-point suspension through the uprights, said container having oppositely inclined walls terminating in a restricted outlet portion, the pivot of the `container being eccentrically located relative thereto, a division plate in the container and extending through the neck portion thereof, a shiftable support for the plate also eccentrically mounted relative to the pivot point of tie container and designed when the container is shifted in either direction to move independently of the container, and receiving means for the articles carried by the base.

7. A holder and distributer for articles of the nature described7 embodying a base having uprights, a container, a rod fixed to the container and forming a two-point suspension through the. uprights, said container having oppositely inclined walls terminating in a restricted outlet portion, the pivot cf the container being eccentrically located relative thereto, la division plate in the container and extending through the neck portion thereof, said uprights being provided with horizontal slots, a support movable in the slots, said container having end slots through which the support is vertically moved, and agitating devices carried by the support and positively shifted therewith upon oscillation of the container to feed the articles singly through the restricted throats formed by the plate.

8. A `holder and distributer for articles of the nature described, embodying a base having uprights, a container, a rod fixed to the container and forming a two-point suspension through the uprights, said container having oppositely inclined walls terminating in a restricted outlet portion, the pivot of the container being eccentrically located relative thereto, a division plate in the container and extending through the neck portion thereof, said uprights being provided with horizontal slots, a support movable in the slots, said container having end slots through which the support is vertically moved, and fins carried by said support and projecting in opposite directions at spaced points longitudinally of the container to exert downward pressure upon the articles carried in the container upon shifting of the latter.

9. A holder and distributer for articles of the nature described, embodying a base having uprights, a container, a rod fixed to the container and forming a two-point suspension through the uprights, said container having oppositely inclined walls terminating in a restricted outlet portion, the pivot of the container being eccentrically located relative thereto, a division plate in the container and extending through the neck portion thereof, said uprights being provided with horizontal slots, a rod movable in the slots, said container having end slots through which the rod is vertically moved, fins carried by said rod and projecting in opposite directions at spaced points longitudinally of the container to exert downward pressure upon the articles carried in the container upon shifting of the latter, said ins having notched faces forming a force feed, and an agitating means preventing the forming of an arch above the rod.

l0. A holder and distributor for articles of the nature described, embodying a base having uprights, a container, a rod fixed to the container and forming a two-point suspension through the uprights, said container having oppositely inclined walls terminating in a restricted outlet portion, the pivot of the container being eccentrically located relative thereto, a division plate in the container and extending through the neck portion thereof, said uprights being provided with horizontal slots, a support movable in` the slots, said contalner having end slots through which the support is vertically moved, agitating devices carried by the support and positively shifted therewith upon oscillation of the container to feed the articles singly through the` restricted throats formed by the plate, a cover for the container, said cover having retaining portions engaged with the container at opposite sides of the latter, said retaining portions forming grasping members by which the container may be tilted, and means carried by the pivot of the container for additionally tilting the same.

11. A holder' and distributor forarticles of the nature described, embodying a hase having uprights, a container, a rod iixed to the container and forming a two-point suspension through the uprights, said container having oppositely inclined walls terminating in a restricted outlet portion, the pivot of the container being eccentrically located relative thereto, a division plate in the container and extending through the neck portion thereof, said uprights being provided with horizontal slots, a support movable in the slots, said container having end slots through which the support is vertically moved, agitatiug devices carried by the support and positively shifted therewith upon oscillation of the container to feed the articles singly through the restricted throats formed by the plate, and guards carried by the base near the extremities of the latter, said guards having recesses communicating with its upper edge to aline with the outer throat of the container produced by the division plate when the container is disposed at the limit of its movement in either direction.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT M. REID.

Vitnesses:

JOHN E. BUROH, PHILIP D. ROLLHAUS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, byaddresing the Commissioner of Patente, Wmhinzton, D. C. 

